Concha y Toro
Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon
Maipo Valley
2016

The producer

Concha y Toro is one of Chile’s most renowned wine producers, known for crafting exceptional wines that reflect the diverse terroirs of the region. Founded in 1883, Concha y Toro has grown to become a global leader in winemaking, combining tradition with innovation. Their estate vineyards span across Chile's key wine regions, including the prestigious Maipo Valley, home to the iconic Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon. With a commitment to sustainable practices and a focus on expressing the unique character of each vineyard, Concha y Toro delivers wines of consistent quality, richness, and complexity, making them a celebrated name among wine enthusiasts worldwide.

The wine

Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon, produced by Concha y Toro, is a distinguished wine originating from the Puente Alto vineyard in Chile's Maipo Valley. Established in 1890 by Don Melchor Concha y Toro, this vineyard is situated on the northern bank of the Maipo River at the foothills of the Andes, at an elevation of 650 meters above sea level. The 127-hectare vineyard benefits from alluvial terraces with gravelly soils, providing excellent drainage and contributing to the wine's distinctive character.

The winemaking process for Don Melchor emphasizes traditional methods to preserve the vineyard's unique terroir. Grapes are hand-harvested into 10-kilogram bins to maintain fruit integrity. Upon arrival at the winery, the clusters and berries undergo a double selection process before fermentation. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, followed by malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels. The wine is then aged for approximately 15 months in French oak barrels, with a significant portion being new oak, to enhance complexity and aging potential.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.